In case anyone did not know, the UK is in the middle of an energy crisis. The country is having to import more and more natural gas from overseas, and this means that prices are on the rise. Consumers are doing all they can to pay their bills, but for some that is simply not enough. On top of all of this, the government and consumer groups have been attacking Ofgem saying that they are not controlling the Big Six energy companies like they should be.

Well, Ofgem wants to put a stop to this. In fact, the energy regulator said that they are going to force suppliers to tell their consumers about the cheapest tariffs they have. No longer can companies keep their best deals hidden away. However, some still wonder: Is this enough? Will this new regulation really help people to save that much money? Well, Ofgem seems to think so.

Ofgem says that their new proposal is, not only going to make the industry cheaper, but it is going to make it more simple and fair. It says that it is going to give honest people a fighting chance against an energy firm that thinks it can run unchecked.

So why is Ofgem suddenly stepping up to the plate? Most of this has to do with the comments made by the prime minister, David Cameron. Recently, Mr. Cameron said that he would personally make sure that people were put on energy companies’ lowest tariffs, or at least make energy companies make these deals known to their customers.

Of course, Ofgem does not want to stop there. They want to try to redeem themselves after all. Ofgem hopes to also ban complex multi-tier tariffs. They want energy companies to give consumers more personalized information as well. This should help people better find a deal that is suited for them.

Alistair Buchanan, who is the current chief executive of Ofgem, said that his group’s plan is to put an end to consumers being confused over their bills and the complex tariffs that energy companies are trying to force them into. Ofgem wants a clearer, simpler and fairer way for people to buy their energy. He went on to say that he was happy to see that some suppliers have already started to clean up their act, but it’s still not good enough.

The chief executive of Energy UK (which represents all the major energy suppliers in the UK), Angela Knight, said that Ofgem is trying to force some very challenging sets of requirements on them. However, suppliers will work with Ofgem to try to give consumers the best deals possible.

This entry was posted
on Monday, October 22nd, 2012 at 7:24 am and is filed under Energy Prices.
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